post your grado mods.... - Page 187

 

The tri-tone cups are bloody amazing looking, and probably just as amazing sounding knowing they are thelostMIDrange sensei's work.

 

I see you have got "pin-extenders" on both side to accommodate his smaller cups between the wider Grado gimbals, good idea.

 

This Magnum V4 (or 5 is it?) driver looks a bit small / loose inside the cup, was there the need to use glue or a thin material to have the driver sit snugly in the cup?

 

Three different woods, just wow; we can see how he tackled the tuning aspect first using limba/maple and how he's now tackling the aesthetic part. The funny part is that I would bet that he selected the different woods according to their density to help the sound furthermore. Maple must be what most of the body is made of, Paduak must be denser, and "Movingui" would be the outer lip, though I have no idea what it can do special here.

Edited by devouringone3 - 2/23/13 at 8:02pm

My 14yr old daughter helped me fabricate the pin-extenders as a solution!  It took a few days to find the right materials but I am very happy with the final outcome. Just need to sand and paint the ends black. I didnt want to ghetto up such beautiful cups and the Sony headband is too small for my huge freakin head!

 

They sound incredible! The sound is natural as I have heard from any cans. Our master sensei nailed it with these cups. These are supposed to be the last cups he is making so I feel particularly blessed to have 3 pair. All of them are being utilized, I assure you. Before I assembled my headphones I just carried the cups around the house with me huffin on them! They smell as great as they perform.

 

The picture are of my V4s. The fit is so perfect I just gently worked them into place, no glue no anything just finesse. I did have to do a small amount of sanding to accommodate the MS1 drivers, it was minimal though and they are also pressure fitted.

In all honesty the cups achieve the perfect synthesis between art and function!

..i like that wood cup ......... (y)

 

Yeah he's not happy about the way things are going, both on Head-Fi for every popular high-end headphone, and now with the latest version Magnums also not going in the direction he'd like. I thought he had only made one of these tri-color Grados to be his own pair, so I'm a bit surprised to see three of them in your possession. But at the same time I know that he doesn't keep many headphones at all with him, so if he found something he preferred elsewhere it's possible that he sells / gives away even his own Grado cups/headphone he spent a whole year fine-tuning, lol.

 

He did make me HP 1000 driver limba cups, but when I sent him the drivers he didn't like what he heard and thought that the driver doesn't like to live in wood. He did the best he could though, gained some terrain on the finish, and managed to make something decent that included modding of the driver. I can't comment on sound because I haven't learned to solder yet and my two pairs of cups are empty.

 

*Edit, he probably still has his pair (extensively modded), is it possible that he made four identical and kept the best sounding one and sold to you the three other, excellent sounding pairs along with a Sony headband or two?

Edited by devouringone3 - 3/1/13 at 6:28am

What kind of wood you got there?

that's sonokeling some said Indonesian Rosewood. 

 

Indian rosewood, Bombay blackwood or Java palisander (english), palisandre de l’Inde (french)

thank's . 

Here's a new pair, very simple.

 

 

I understand his dissatisfaction with Head-FI and share his feelings about the V5s. I too prefer the V4 sound signature over the V5s. Just my taste.

As far as Head-FI is concerned it can be much more than just a forum for audiophiles. This forum breeds discontent and encourages constant and often unnecessary consumerism as a way to keep up with the illusive search for that "perfect" pair of cans. I find there is huge corporate influence here and do not much care for it. I know too many people who came here looking for answers and have ended up spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars because of misinformation and are still are unhappy if not more unhappy with their current audio situation. For many people this forum is not a place for answers but a place that has given birth to even more questions. Maybe that is the function of this forum? I am not trying to be confrontational I am just making a broad comment about some of the crazier stuff that I have seen take place in forums. This place can be very unhealthy in my opinion, that is all I am saying.

Regarding the tri-woods I acquired the three pair in an very odd, round about way. It is not appropriate IMO to share the details in a public forum but feel free to im me if you want more deets devouringone3. I am quite sure these are the only ones he made. In fact these may be the last pair he makes.

He is a good friend of mine and know how he can be. It is a large part of the reason why I respect and like him so much. I consider thelostMIDrange to be one of the most knowledgeable and truly compassionate cats on these forums. I have nothing but praise for thelostMIDrange.

Edited by DankHemingway - 2/25/13 at 7:41pm

 

First  I  Removed the drivers cut all of the mounting tabs. I had a pair of Sony MDR-V150 Headphones that I never use so I used it for parts.You can use any headphones that you can make fit.The ear pads fit perfectly, just a little bit difficult to get on.Use the rubber gromets for your cables.For the headband pad I used a pad from a Sony camcorder carrying case.

 

I also use a 2" PVC pipe coupling  For the cups,  you can get these at any home Improvement store Lowes home Depot etc.

 

Measure and cut the holes in the cups for the cables and mounting. The drivers will fit tightly but you need to wrap a little bit of tape, felt, or something similar, to make a tighter fit. I did the venting mod on the driver 4 holes put some felt, or blu-tac etc. to damp vibrations of magnet assembly.  I rewired using the smallest diameter wire you can find, I used 30ga telephone cable. use the 2 outer wires for best seperation. Now put everything together, I used electrical tape to seal the driver assembly before installing. This might seem strange but try it, I tuned the chamber by taping 4 dimes but you can use any metal that will fit to the walls of the chamber this adds mass to the cups and tunes the bass, the result of this mod is very obvious.It tightens up bass. more extension. more power!!!

 

These will be the best sounding igrado headphones you can get anywhere and possibly sound as good as some of the more expensive Grado headphones. You can do this just take your time!

 

 

 

 

 

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You have to watch that you don't get so analytical and critical that you don't like anything anymore.

Also posted this in fan club...Ok GRADO fans, here's the situation. Sr-80's, mahogany cups, 414 pads, 4 driver vents per. Very pleased with the sound and response, but, at high volume I am hearing a buzz rattle out of the right driver. Have I toasted the driver? Am I just over driving it and only hearing it now because of the venting? If so, why don't I hear this out of both? When A GRADO driver goes, is this how it starts? Any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated.

I've been on numerous forums from sports cars to vintage fans (yes, really), to bicycles. You comments pretty much describe them all. I think its the nature of enthusiasts getting together and showing off all the money they spent on stuff you all are into. Then there's the fact that all these enthusiast are people...

Quote:

 

Headfi doesn't hide the fact that it's sponsor driven - it is in itself, consumerism-lead. 
That's how we get the juicy interviews and 'first looks' on a lot of equipment.

 

But I agree mostly - the poor person loses out if they're not careful with their wallet by taking the advice given with a few pinches of salt, and the companies gain from bigger profits which in turn benefits the consumer as they have more money to burn on development... there are pros and cons.